Dance With Me
by KatarinaZ
Summary: Hermione gets upset during the Yule Ball, and Draco finds her crying. What happens? One-shot, inspired by the song Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran.


A/N: This one shot is inspired by _Give Me Love_ by Ed Sheeran. Enjoy!

Draco Malfoy stood talking with Pansy Parkinson in the Entrance Hall, waiting for the Yule Ball to start. She was talking about something stupid, like how much her dress had cost, or who had bought the ugliest necklace, or some other bit of inane gossip. Bored, his eyes roamed the Entrance Hall, looking to see who had shown up. Of course, it seemed like the entire school had come. He didn't really want to go, but Pansy had insisted. He figured he'd just escape at some point and go back to the common room.

Then, a bunch of people around him started pointing and whispering at something near the stairs. He looked over at the stairs and his mouth dropped open. A stunningly beautiful girl stood at the top of the stairs, looking shyly at the people gathered at the bottom of the stairs. She was wrapped in a pink silk gown, the fabric clinging to her body in all the right places and cascading loosely down her form.

He'd never seen this girl before, but she looked oddly familiar. Surely he would have noticed a girl that was this beautiful. She began to walk down the stairs, her dress bouncing lightly, until she reached the bottom. She glided over to Viktor Krum and greeted him, and then he took her arm.

Malfoy tried to get closer to the girl, to find out who had captured the heart of Viktor Krum. He passed by Harry and Ron, who seemed to be glaring daggers at Viktor Krum. Malfoy was surprised, because he thought that they had idolized Krum. Then, he took another look at the girl, closer to him now. Realization dawned upon him as he finally recognized her. It was Hermione Granger.

It seemed like the little mudblood had cleaned up. Well, more than cleaned up. She was beautiful. Shedding the baggy robes and taming her bushy mane had done wonders for her appearance. And, it seemed to have boosted her self-confidence, because she looked absolutely radiant. He had to remind himself that he was looking at Hermione Granger, the know-it-all bookworm, and he frowned.

"I can't believe that mudblood got Krum!" he heard a voice shriek over his shoulder.

Pansy.

"I'm even more surprised that she came to the ball."

Pansy said, in a lower voice. "And she's not ugly either."

Malfoy agreed, but decided to hold his tongue so that something like 'she looks beautiful' didn't come out.

Then, the doors opened. Luckily, everyone began to move in to the Hall all at once, so that he soon lost sight of her. And good thing, because a moment more looking at her, and he might have admitted that he was attracted to her.

.

.

As the night had worn on, Malfoy had become incredibly bored. It was all so stupid, and Pansy was driving him insane. The only thing that kept him sane was Hermione. When she danced, she glided across the floor like an angel, and her face glowed with happiness. She laughed quite frequently, and that made her face light up even more. She was beautiful, he finally admitted to himself, and she radiated confidence, which made her face much more relaxed. She wasn't trying to follow the rules for once. He made up his mind to try to talk to her sometime during the ball, to tell her that he thought she was actually pretty. The idea did sound pretty strange, but it's not like she would tell anyone what he said, because no one would believe her. He was also a little tipsy on some smuggled firewhiskey, so it seemed like any idea would work.

.

.

It was nearing the end of the ball, and Malfoy was about to stab himself in the head. This ball was stupid, and everyone there was stupid. Of course, some idiot had to go and get caught with the firewhiskey, and one of the teachers had put an end to that real quick. So he couldn't drown himself in alcohol. He had taken to sulking in a corner and counting the icicles on the ceiling, and watching Hermione. She had been dancing most of the ball, becoming happier and happier, lighting up her face and brightening her eyes. She became even more beautiful throughout the ball, and he was jealous that she was on Krum's arm. Why couldn't she be on his arm, dancing with him and smiling her beautiful smile at him?

Right then, he noticed her storm out of the Hall, Weasel and Potty staring at her. If those idiots had upset her, he probably would kill them. But meanwhile, he had to find Hermione. He had to tell her how he felt. She probably wouldn't care, but maybe, just maybe it would cheer her up. He had to see her smile again.

He walked out of the Hall, looking for Hermione. He walked up the entire staircase, but she was nowhere to be found. Then, he decided to walk outside, thinking that maybe she had gone outside to clear her head.

He found her sitting on a bench. He stepped closer, still hidden in shadow, but close enough to see her face. She was crying. Those two idiots had made her cry! Now he had to comfort her, as well as tell her how he felt. Oh bloody hell, here goes nothing, he thought, as he revealed himself to Hermione

.

.

.

Shoes in hand, Hermione exited the Entrance Hall. What a horrible night it had been. She had gone to the ball to have a good time, but instead Ron had ruined everything. Going to the ball was supposed to be something that helped her embrace her femininity, which wasn't something that she could do often because of her two best friends. Then, Ron has to come and tell her that he didn't even think to ask her, basically saying that he never noticed her. She was left in tears, although he didn't seem to care. He never cared about her feelings, it was always about him.

The night outside was clear, and it gave her room to breathe. She found a stone bench, draped in shadow. The tears glistening on her cheeks could fall freely now, no longer restricted by the suffocating happiness inside the castle. Of course, no one was out here, everyone was too busy dancing in the castle. No one could see he cry out here. It was just her, the moon, and the stars.

A shuffling noise brought her back to reality. Hermione searched for the noise. Then she noticed a shadow standing nearby, watching her.

"Hello? Who's there?" she asked cautiously.

No response.

"Hello?"

Then the shadow moved into the light. Malfoy. His hair wasn't smoothed down by hair gel, instead it was carefully messy. He was dressed in what looked like the finest of dress robes. He looked...handsome.

"Granger. Fancy seeing you out here."

"Well...um..."

"Did Krum ditch you?" Malfoy sneered.

Hermione's eyes began to fill up with tears again. Malfoy didn't seem to notice.

"No! I just need space."

"From who? Krum? Thought you fancied him?"

"I do, but Krum has nothing to do with why I'm out here."

"Why are you out here then?

"None of your business!

Hermione's tears began to fall freely again.

"Why can't you just leave me alone for once? I'm not in the mood!"

Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to hear what I actually came here to say?"

"You mean you were looking for me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Well...um..." Malfoy hadn't actually thought about what he was going to say. He thought for a moment, putting the words together in his head. Then he took a deep breath.

"Okay, so tonight, when I saw you on the steps, walking down into the Entrance Hall, I didn't recognize you at first. But then, as I got a closer look at you, I realized that you were Hermione Granger. I couldn't believe it. You, the know-it-all mudblood bookworm, looked like a goddess."

Hermione flushed, not expecting what she was hearing from Malfoy.

He continued. "But then, when I saw you dancing with Krum, I actually felt..well... jealous." He looked down at his lap, unsure of what to say next. "I was jealous of Krum because he had a beautiful witch on his arm. But not only was she beautiful, she radiated self-confidence. She looked invincible. I couldn't stand to be in that Hall anymore because I felt guilty. Guilty that I hadn't seen you for what you really are."

Hermione was taken aback. No one had ever said such nice things to her before, and this was all coming from...Malfoy.

"I...I don't know what to say. No one's ever called me beautiful before." she shyly admitted.

Malfoy looked at her, his grey eyes deep pools of silver.

"I doubt that."

"Well, being best friends with two boys who don't actually realize that you're a girl...you don't really get compliments like that. It seems like all that Harry and Ron ever seem to compliment me about is how smart I am, because I'm the one that knows all the answers on the homework. They would never think that they could just ask me to be their date on something like this...no they don't see me like that. No one ever does. That's why I'm out here," she admitted, "I'm just so tired of being...unnoticed. You know, in that way."

Hermione blushed, turning away from Malfoy, expecting him to laugh at her, for being such a silly girl. What he said next completely surprised her.

"Well I think you're beautiful. Anyone that can't see that is blind. All these years, and I've never noticed, just because you were that little know-it-all, and on top of that, a mud...muggle-born. If your friends don't notice how beautiful they are, it's their loss."

"How can I believe you? How can I believe anything you said?"

"You can't believe me. But please, just trust me. I just want to make you feel special for one night, even if I won't ever have the opportunity to see you like this again."

He drew his thumb over her cheeks, gently wiping the tears off her face.

"Please. Follow me," he whispered.

He took her hand, pulling her off the stone bench. He led her away from the shadows, until he had her under the leaves of the great willow tree in the center of the courtyard.

Hermione panicked. Now was the perfect time for him to hex her.

"Relax. I won't do anything to you. I just want to dance with you once before we have to go back."

At that moment, they heard the enchanted strings inside the Great Hall start to play a slow ballad.

"Just relax and enjoy yourself."

Hermione nodded, heart pounding.

He put both hands on her waist, and she placed her hands lightly on his shoulders. She fixed her gaze somewhere over his right shoulder.

As the strings began to get louder, they began to dance. Draco guided her spinning her around and around. Hermione shyly looked up from his shoulder into his grey eyes as they spun. His eyes glimmered with intensity, more silver than grey. His gaze was enough to send her stomach twisting into knots. She smiled shyly, blushing as she did so. He smiled at her, a real smile, and that was when she realized that she wanted this, that she needed someone to make feel wanted, even just for a few minutes. The look in his eyes told her that he wanted the same thing.

The music changed, from a group of enchanted strings, to the sound of one lonely harp. The harp's music descended through the doors, like a wave into the courtyard. It filled Hermione's ears with a sweet melody, something inside her _wanting _and _needing._ Draco could see the need in her warm, brown eyes, the need for something more. He ached to kiss her delicate lips, wanting to feel whatever fire that he saw in her eyes. Unable to resist, he dipped his head to hers and captured her lips. Immediately, a fire coursed through his veins, filling him with the need for her. She snaked her hands around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She needed this, whatever it was.

The music got louder and louder, and then the enchanted strings joined back in with the harp creating an almost ethereal melody.

They stood entwined, forgetting that they were dancing, losing themselves in each other. Finally, she pulled away as the music ended.

"I think I have to go."

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"You know we can't ever talk about this. Because of who we are."

Hermione looked at him sadly. "I know. But thank you. For everything that you've done tonight. I won't ever forget." She smirked. "I've seen that you aren't so bad at all, Malfoy."

"You aren't so bad either Granger."

She giggled, then sighed. "See you around Malfoy."

Hermione placed one lass kiss on Malfoy's lips, and then she slipped inside the castle.

A/N: Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, this feel free to check out my ongoing collection of drabbles, and my other one-shot Refuge. I would love to hear what you thought about this story in a review! Again, thanks for reading!


End file.
